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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674276">calm down sweetheart, grow up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wumbo_requiem/pseuds/wumbo_requiem'>wumbo_requiem</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metalocalypse (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aging, Comforting eachother, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Sorries, this is so mushy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:14:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wumbo_requiem/pseuds/wumbo_requiem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Toki worries about his appearance and aging.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Magnus Hammersmith/Toki Wartooth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>calm down sweetheart, grow up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title is a reference to blue boy by mac demarco, i think it fits with this, maybe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Toki pouts at himself in the mirror. A man with long hair and a short beard stares back. He's not imagining it. There really </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> strands of grey starting to pop up. Oh, no, he's really starting to look like his partner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki leans in to inspect a small patch of grey along the side of his face and sighs. He has to hide this. Dye it, or something. But hair isn't the only thing showing how much he's aged. Fine lines are starting to form like little rivers around his mouth and across his forehead, too. In theory, there's nothing wrong with them. Magnus has them- he's had them for as long a Toki has known him- and they only make him </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> attractive, as far as Toki is concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But on him? It doesn't look right. Toki is supposed to be the young one. His face is like stone, never moving, hard in structure. But he guesses that stone can chip and crumble, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Where has the time gone? It's hard to believe it's been six years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dejected, Toki turns away from his reflection and leaves the bathroom. The sound of pages rustling down the hall gives away Magnus' location. Toki does what he can to pull himself together, putting on a smile before stepping into the living room, a hand clutching the doorframe. His smile brightens at the sight of Magnus flipping a newspaper on the couch, legs crossed at the knees, eyes squinting at the words. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki pads over and picks up Magnus' reading glasses, which he’d no doubt forgotten, then slides them over the man's ears. Magnus looks up at him with smiling eyes. Toki tries not to fixate on the creases around them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you," Magnus chuckles, pushing the frames up his jagged nose. "G'morning." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki sits beside him, sprawling his legs out and sinking into the couch. There's a lingering sadness, but Magnus makes it a little better. Getting to wake up and see him every day makes a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of things better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Mornings! Anything goods in there?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus laughs and puts the paper down, folding it in his lap and turning his attention to Toki. "No, there never is. Just the usual chaos and destruction." He sighs through his nose and Toki can see that despite his ability to joke about it, he's really in distress. Who could blame him? There’s always so much going on in the world. Toki just doesn’t let it weigh on his mind the way Magnus does. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey. Don'ts worries about everything, okays? Thinks about where you are. Right heres, with mes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki can see the shift immediately: Magnus' shoulders drop, his eyebrows lower a fraction, his rigid mouth softens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I don't have it too bad, do I?" He ruffles Toki's hair, which normally wouldn't make Toki flinch, but this time it does. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus' face expands with worry. "Did-- I do something wrong?" He asks. Toki can hear the guilt in his voice and feels bad for having caused it. Even though it's been over half a decade since they worked things out, there are still moments where those old scars show up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But this isn't trauma related at all, no- he's just self conscious. He's too scared he’ll look silly if he confesses that, so he just shakes his head. "Sorries. I just gots… lost in my own thoughts, I guess. Thinkin’ real hards!!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No offence, but that does </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> sound like you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki snorts. He's used to this sort of affectionate teasing. But Magnus kind of hit the nail on the head, and he knows he isn't going to get away with lying. "Alrights, I tells you. But it ams so stupids. You'll makes fun of me." </span>
</p><p><span>Magnus pretends to look offended. "Toki, when have I </span><em><span>ever</span></em> <em><span>done</span></em> <em><span>that</span></em><span>?” He deserves the eyeroll coming his way. </span></p><p>
  <span>"Gonna gets to the points here. I'm… I looks like I'm getting </span>
  <em>
    <span>old</span>
  </em>
  <span> Magnus, and I don't likes it!" He grabs at his hair, tugging the greying strands to illustrate his point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus takes a deep breath. "Well, Toki, it’s because you </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting old. Not as old as me though. Look at me, my hair is practically all that colour. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span>,"  he says, pointing vaguely at Toki's head, "is nothin'."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki sighs. "I'm gonna dyes it. It looks </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span> on me."  His face reverts back to a pout.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nawww</span>
  </em>
  <span>." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I don't looks… rights. I don't looks like I did before. I don't looks like… </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus pauses for a second, seeing that Toki is being affected by this more seriously than he would have thought. Then something clicks. "Is it… because you don't look the way you did when we </span>
  <em>
    <span>met</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is that it?" Toki responds with silence. "You're afraid I'm not going to see you the same way?" A feeble nod. "That I won't be as attracted to you?" Magnus is too good at this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That ams… parts of it, yeah." Toki reddens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus cradles the back of Toki's skull in both hands, like he has so many times. It never fails to calm him down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Toki</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Toki, Toki. I still like what I see. That will never change. You could… you could chop off all your hair and I probably wouldn’t give a shit. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Baby</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I think you look </span>
  <em>
    <span>good.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki's heart beats like a hummingbird on coke. Oh. He has to take Magnus' word for it. How can he not when he calls him such sweet things? He loves this gentle side of Magnus. Over time, Toki has found that it doesn’t take much at all to provoke it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I… thanks you, Magnus." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't dye it, ‘kay? You look handsome. It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>natural</span>
  </em>
  <span>." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay." His hand finds Magnus' and he keeps it there for a few moments, his index finger lingering on the promise ring that matches his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus breaks away at last, heat changing the colour of his cheeks. He folds his hands in his lap and Toki can still feel his own cheeks burning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You knows, you don’t looks so bad yourselfs,” he says. Magnus raises his eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he continues with a smirk. “For an old mans like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus laughs. “Oh, fuck</span>
  <em>
    <span> off</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki snickers. “Just jokin’s. But reallies-” his eyes grow soft and serious. He admires Magnus silently. His wild hair and long beard, still mostly brown but peppered with more silver than before. The way he actually buttons up his shirts now. The way his eyes don’t meet Toki’s because he gets easily embarrassed when compliments are directed at him. It all paints a picture of a trustworthy man. A changed man. The one Toki’s glad he put in the work to keep around. God, he looks so </span>
  <em>
    <span>healthy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You’d never know his past just by looking at him. “You’ve never looked betters. I means, you’ve always looked goods, but... you aged likes a fine wine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus’ lips part, but he doesn’t look up. His ears flush. “Ah. Heheh. Thanks, Toki. I don’t deserve that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course you does.” Toki scoots closer and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Accepts it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… okay.” Magus looks surprised, clearly not expecting the kiss but not opposed to it either. Toki knows it’s not easy for Magnus to accept compliments. Like his insults, he can dish them out but he can’t take them. One time, Toki got verbally affectionate to the point where Magnus broke down. They don’t like to talk about that, but Toki’s learned from it. He goes easy on the praise, but he doesn’t refrain from it all together, because Magnus needs to hear that he is </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span> every now and then.There is so much more Toki wants to add, but he keeps it to himself. He doesn’t want to overwhelm him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ams kind of cutes that we match,” he says, twisting a lock of Magnus’ hair between his fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus leans in a little closer. “Think so?” He asks in amusement. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of </span>
  <em>
    <span>copying my style</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That’s not cool, man.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki laughs. “I wouldn’ts dreams of it, pal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, but if I catch you going through my closet, that’s it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki wonders if he should mention the fact that he already has. He totally stole one of Magnus’ sweaters. He wonders if he knows. Perhaps it’s better to keep that to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In case Magnus should read into his silence and catch on, Toki closes his eyes and gives Magnus a proper kiss on the lips to distract him. This time Magnus is prepared, and kisses back. It's soft and gentle, neither of them expecting anything more from each other. Toki figures that even if Magnus </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> know, his threat is empty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toki pulls away and sighs dreamily. “We really ams gonna be two olds mans together, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yeah.” Magnus holds up his hand and wiggles his ring finger. “It’s kind of in the contract.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
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